“They may knock us down. But they will never prevent us from getting on our feet again”
We have seen sports stars, actors, musicians you name it. And as an onlooker, it’s rather hard to combine the superficiality of this move with the profundity of it. We find it so common that we question what must happen when the camera isn’t rolling? As far as sports films go, this one is more interesting than many thanks to Disney they capture the heart, sweat and sacrifice that the Antentokounmpo brothers had to go through to reach global stardom and dominate the NBA as very few people have ever been able to. After Netflix’s June release ‘Hustle’ which featured a very real Adam Sandler performance, this becomes the second basketball movie of the month.
The sequence “Rise” starts in Lagos, Nigeria, when the couple Charles and Veronica are forced to leave their only son Francis. For them, it all turns a bit better when they are taken to Turkey and then across the border into Greece, illegally. But time has not changed how they are treated and the continent is still rife with anti-immigrant protests that are attempting to find new ways to “stand people to the border”.
Perhaps not leaving any stone unturned the Antentekounmpos family of six works around the clock to keep their heads above water. Two brothers Giannis and Thanasis, the eldest of the lot, are the first ones to engage in the goal of elevating their family. After a long time, it is now they, for their prayers and determination, finally get to see some movement.
There is a well known detail concerning sports biography films that creates risks. They aren’t easy to create. There are only a few people who are able to carry the massive responsibilities of producing such movies. Award winning director Akin Omotoso is the right man for the mission. He is outspoken about the struggles of immigration, racism, and, dare I say it, humiliation. In fact, it comes from places and in moments that you’d expect to have actually happened in real life. Nevertheless, he does not gear his story in that manner. It is almost completely about the family that the couples brought into the world and raised.
There are inconsistencies along the way. Some scenes depicting the family’s hardships in earning money are, on some level, a bit over the top and unrealistic. Now one can’t go back and change how things played out for the better, but it should not mean that it is wise to linger on the past for a second longer than necessary. Needlessly long-beam training sequences which could have been filmed more tastefully were in fact quite in line with the core of the narrative. Presumably, the emotional aspect of the accomplishment isn’t reduced by Omotoso excluding scenes where the family is portrayed in an unfavourable light.
For all the glorious images and videos of the brothers who ruled the courts and won so much, it was certainly the most heartbreaking and touching of all the scenes of the four brothers squeezed into a single bed, all four of them barely covered by a sheet, with their parents on the couch embracing each other: “If one scores, the family scores. That’s what is important. Brothers appreciated each other’s positivity and encouraging words when things did not look great and the focus was not on the court and its agony.
The movie ‘Rise’ shows the significance of family bond and loyalty towards each other. And when it is a matter of such intensity, ‘give it your all’ from your mother’s voice feels like divine. Failure is not an option for you. It is almost like Giannis’ velvety hand was touched by God himself on the day of Draft trials. All the balls that did not go in; all the attempts at scoring that died in the middle; and all the defenses that once were vulnerable. That is what we are shown. To be honest, that is also what is etched in one’s mind more than the actual hoops, attacks and defense that determine the victors in games.
But this sports film is not only about athleticism and the awesome skill these renowned names possess in the court it deals with the harshness of the will to live.
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